How USC football has set itself apart in the Pac-12 Conference

This isn’t a trick question. It’s a question which is simply difficult to answer because so many possible answers could exist. It’s a very open-ended line of inquiry.

Here is the question: What has USC football done for many decades which most Pac-12 schools (Stanford being a notable exception) have not generally done?

Take a minute. Think about it.

There could be many answers, but one is very clear: USC has played nonconference games in November or (more generally) after September.

This is because USC has its long-running and traditional arrangement with Notre Dame: home games in late November, road games in mid-October.

USC also hosted BYU in late November of last season.

Why is this important?

Future Pac-12 media rights deals might need to require all Pac-12 schools to play big nonconference games in November, as Jon Wilner explains:

This shift isn’t possible during the current media rights agreements with Fox and ESPN but could be written into the next contract.

We aren’t suggesting the conference take an SEC-style approach and schedule a barrage of creampuff opponents on the first or second Saturday of November.

Also, there would be limits on available opponents because so many FBS teams are locked into league games at that time of year. (This includes Brigham Young, which is set to join the Big 12 in 2023.)

But the Pac-12 should give teams the contractual option to step outside of conference play in November.

If done strategically, it could create a competitive benefit and produce flexibility for other parts of the schedule — flexibility that would behoove not only the team in question but the entire conference.

After all, the master schedule is essentially a jigsaw puzzle.